The projects aimed to bring 300 students from eastern Sicily closer to the world of the Air Force through 40 hours of theoretical and practical activities each. The 41st Anti-Submarine Squadron and the Air Force Airport (AM) of Sigonella complete the 2018 cycle of training projects as part of the school-work alternation program for high school students in the Eastern Sicily region, in the context of the established collaboration between the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR).
In particular, following the signing of a specific agreement between each School Director and the Commander of the 41st Air Wing and the Sigonella Airport, the course involved more than 300 students attending the top-ranking classes of the following institutions: Higher Secondary Education “E.Majorana” in Gela (CL), Technical Technological “E.Majorana” in Milazzo (ME), Commercial and Aeronautical Technical “Fabio Besta” in Ragusa, Higher Education “G.Arangio Ruiz” in Augusta (SR), State Aeronautical Technical “A.Ferrarin” in Catania.
The projects aimed to bring young people tangibly closer to the Armed Forces through 40 hours of theoretical and practical activities each, allowing them to learn about aeronautical culture and to experience real training opportunities, allowing them to see first-hand the various organizational dynamics of the AM that, together with the other Armed Forces, operates without interruption 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to safeguard citizens and ensure the security of the country.
Guided by their internal tutors and their professors, during their average week of stay, the students got to know all the main infrastructures of Sigonella. Here they interacted with the AM specialists intent on actually operating in the diverse operational world of the 41st Air Wing and the Sicilian Airport, where very different realities, both national and international, persist, learning, for example, how the crews of the P-72A aircraft plan a flight activity, what are the management mechanisms of the AM controllers for air traffic provided to the civil airports of Fontanarossa and Comiso (in addition to the military one of Sigonella), how the activities of the flight line are carried out, and also notions of aircraft maintenance, meteorology, local defense, fire control, various logistical and operational technical services.
Colonel Gianluca Chiriatti, newly appointed Commander of the 41st Air Wing and of the Sigonella Airport, said that he is “…very pleased that so many young people have come into contact with our daily reality and what is even more significant was their lively participation and the interest aroused. The energy of today’s young people means flying into the future. Meeting the new generations of the country is always a precious opportunity to spread a healthy civic and democratic consciousness as well as cultural exchange that enriches knowledge and the deepening of topics as specialized as those related to the military world. A responsibility and an opportunity that the AM promotes with ever greater attention in order to accompany young people in their growth, satisfy curiosity and needs, and also guide them professionally.”
